A sunny day in the city San Marino

The view and natural parks are things that will always stay in our hearts, also the narrow streets, the historic city centre and the bouldery hills of the city San Marino.

One evening, we sat at the beach in Viserbella and thought about what to do the following day. We decided to visit San Marino because it was so close to us.

The next day, we woke up early, picked our most comfortable shoes and started our journey by going to the city Rimini. From there, we took a bus to the Republic of San Marino and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

The Republic of San Marino

The city San Marino is situated on the mountain Titano, 657 metres above sea level. Once you arrive at the very top, you should take a few minutes to enjoy the marvellous view.

The name of the republic comes from the stonemason Marinus, who supposedly flee from the Island Rab in Croatia to escape persecution. He came with a group of Christian followers to Italy and arrived in Rimini; after a while, he decided to move to the mountain Titano because he thought it would be safer. Later, he built a chapel and became the founder of the city and Republic of San Marino. After he had died in 301, he was declared a saint, the city was named after him and received his slogan: nemini teneri, which means do not depend on anyone.

Arriving in the city San Marino

Our bus stopped in one of the parking lots at the bottom of the city. Once we got off, we put our sunglasses on and started marching straight to the city centre. We had already decided to take the last bus back to Rimini, so we had enough time on our hands to explore San Marino, take beautiful pictures and grab something tasty to eat.

The old town is surrounded by an impressive stone wall that has four entrances. There are three towers in total:

Guaita

Cesta

Montale

In the second one, you can visit the museum of old fire weapons.

We entered the city through the gate San Francesco and arrived in a small square with the monument dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi. Immediately after arriving, we took a seat on the stairs in Piazza della Liberta and watched the tourists passing by. In the square, you’ll find Palazzo Pubblico, the towns hall, and other important administrative institutions of the city San Marino. Right in the centre of the square, you can have a look at Statua della Liberta, a statue made from marble.

We enjoyed the many tourists that surrounded us in this square. They all looked pretty happy; we also loved the smell of freshly brewed espresso, the many terraces, which were filled with people, and the impeccable blue sky. It was like a living painting we admired for a few minutes; then, we went on our way.

Basilica del Santo Marino

Basilica del Santo Marino is the main church of the city San Marino. You can find it in Piazza Domus Plebis and it is dedicated to Saint Marinus, the founder of the republic. The church you can visit today has been built in 1836 in place of the old one from the 7th century. The designers chose the neoclassical style; therefore, the church is quite pretty on the outside. The interior is elegant, there are many high pillars, beautiful pictures and statues all around.

After we visited the church, we passed by Cava dei Balestrieri, a stone pit, which has been open since the 19th century. The city San Marino extracts the necessary stones it needs to restore Palazzo Pubblico.

Parco Naturale

Around noon, the sun started burning our skin uncomfortably and we decided to go to Parco Naturale to cool down for a bit. Immediately upon entering, we felt the cool air the vegetation offered us. Sadly, we didn’t wear the right shoes and didn’t walk around too much. Instead, we cooled off and went back to get some lunch. We opted for some tasty piadina and peppermint ice cream.

Museo delle Curiosita

After we had filled our stomaches, we still had some time left before the last bus arrived, so we decided to go to a museum. There weren’t that many, to begin with, so we picked one that peeked our interest: Museo delle Curiosita — the museum of curiosities (official website here). This museum doesn’t have temporary expositions, but instead always offers visitors the same things to look at: curiosities from all around the world. We looked at the longest fingernails, the smallest woman, the biggest human and the most tattooed person. There was also the man with the longest hair, another one with the longest beard and many more attractions. We also saw strange objects that had been used through out the centuries.

The museum has three floors and only takes around 30 minutes to visit. To enter, you have to pay seven euros, which is a bit pricey for what it offers. We didn’t mind though because we had time to spare and were looking for something interesting to see.

After the museum, we still had some time left, so we slandered around once more and slowly started descending to the parking lot. The sun had already vanished behind the horizon and it had filled the sky in a beautiful red colour.